FCC Bars Analog-Station Shutoff

A TV station in Southern California has been ordered to continue analogbroadcasting even though the station wanted to shift to all-digital broadcastingeffective Jan. 1.

Station KVMD in Twentynine Palms, Calif., was poised to become the firststation in the country to make the digital transition and surrender its analoglicense.

But the Federal Communications Commission's Media Bureau ruled that because asignificant number of persons -- about 60,000 -- would lose access to KVMD'sanalog station, it would not allow the station to discontinue analogbroadcasting.

The ruling, issued in a Dec. 19 letter to the station's attorney, came in thecontext of a must-carry dispute between KVMD and several cable companies.

KVMD sought to drop its analogsignal in order to make its digital signal eligible for cable carriage inanalog format.

The station said its powerful digital signal would give it access to anadditional 4.8 million persons in cable homes.

The FCC did not act on the conflicting must-carryclaims. With the agency ordering KVMD to continue analog broadcasting, KVMD hasno authority under FCC rules to seek cable carriage of its digital signal.